World Cup cricket coach dead after team's shock knockout

Bob Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica and later died in hospital
13 April 2012

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan cricket coach and former England batsman, has collapsed and died.

The 58-year-old was found unconscious in his West Indies hotel room hours after his team suffered one of the most stunning upsets in cricket history.

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• Bob Woolmer factfile

Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup at the first stage after losing to cricketing minnows Ireland. The shock defeat sent angry fans wild in Pakistan, where cricket is virtually a religion. They burned effigies of Woolmer and his players.

Woolmer - tipped as a favourite to replace Duncan Fletcher as England's coach after the World Cup - was discovered in his room at the Pegasus Hotel, Jamaica. There was speculation that he had suffered a heart attack.

A spokesman said Woolmer suffered from a medical condition but that it was too early to say whether it played a part in his death. He said Woolmer's South Africa-based wife has been informed.

India-born Woolmer's contract was due to expire after the World Cup, and was unlikely to have been renewed.

Woolmer played in 19 Tests for England but it was as an international coach that he made his mark, first with South Africa and then with Pakistan, where he was appointed coach in 2004.

The job is considered one of the most pressurised in the sport, with Pakistanis fervent about their national side. Most Pakistanis have a passionate and emotional bond with cricket and the sport receives massive media exposure in a nation of 160million people.

Yesterday, before news of Woolmer's death was announced, supporters held a mock burial of the team and the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board in Hyderabad city.

A few hours before his death, Woolmer had spoken of the "toll" the job was taking on him.

After the defeat to Ireland, which he described as the worst day of his career, he said: "I would like to sleep on my future as a coach. It's what I do best, what I try to do best. Therefore I'm not going to throw away coaching just like that.

"However, internationally I will give it some thought. Travelling and being involved non-stop in hotels and so on takes its toll."

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